Notes from Organizing Principles reading assignment.

3 essential components of art: subject, form, content (no one can exist without others)

Form - the total arrangement of the composition and to the very act of organizing and composing it.

7 principles of organization --> success = visual unity

organizing process = composition = design

harmony - a pleasing relationship between different sections of a composition (elements have characteristics in common, cohesion)

repetition - can lead eye (rhythm - continuance/flow/sense of movement resulting from repeated beats. can have accents and intervals)

pattern - arrangement of elements (motif - pattern repeated numerous times. all-over pattern is a motif repeated/ "big picture") 

closure

shared edges

overlapping

transparency

interpenetration

extensions (line, implied or subjective)

 

variety (counterweight to harmony) - imparts individuality

contrast - dissimilarity, more dominant/emphasized

elaboration

balance

gravity

moments of force (points of interest)

symmetry (formal balance)

 approximate symmetry 

 radial balance

asymmetry (informal/occult balance)

proportion - ratio of individual parts to one another or to the whole

scale - size

- "golden mean/golden section" - (greek) ideal standard for proportion and balance in life and art

- (euclid - golden mean = "moderation of all things")

- ratio = .618

hierarchical (larger = more important)

dominance 

contrast

isolation

placement

direction

scale or proportion

character

movement

economy - composing with efficiency

- sometimes associated with abstraction

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space

three dimensional/plastic - condensed into the picture plane

decorative space - 2 dimensional interpretation,

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THREE-DIMENSIONAL FORM AND THE PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION

more views = more complex

tectonic - closed, massive, and simple

atectionic - open, to a large degree

methods pretty much same as 2d

low relief - shallow surface depth, more similar to 2d

high relief - same problems as sculpture in the round

kinetic sculpture - work itself moves

Alexander Calder - father of mobile sculptures, used motors.